In telecommunication networks from a telecommunication company's central office to its subscribers, existing copper installations are being replaced with optical fiber out to a plurality of fiber nodes that convert the optical signals to electrical signals for transmission to the subscriber over copper drops. As more fiber nodes are added to networks, it becomes increasingly difficult for the central office to handle all the distribution needs of the network. In order to move fiber distribution downstream of the central office into the network, commonly used central office type fiber distribution frames can be used; however, such frames require large amounts of space and even larger cabinets and vaults to house them. They also use jumpers interposed between the feeder cable and distribution cable to allow for reconfigurations. Besides increasing the amount of space needed, the use of jumpers adds another connection point that contributes to connection loss in the network. Other types of fiber interconnection products such as splice closures are limited to mating complements of the feeder cable to complements of the distribution cable and any reconfiguration is limited to fibers within the same complement.
Accordingly a need exists for a fiber distribution apparatus that can be used downstream of the central office to provide a flexible point of demarcation between feeder fibers from the central office and distribution fibers leading to optical nodes. More specifically, a need exists for a compact fiber distribution apparatus that allows any distribution fiber to be joined to any feeder fiber whether at initial installation or later reconfiguration and without the need for jumpers or large space requirements.